Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Paint

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage innovation in paint products to make better use of resources, and what steps they are taking to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to create new markets for paint products.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: I am pleased to highlight a project by Akzo Nobel, Newlife Paints and Seymour Consulting supported through our delivery arm – Innovate UK – to industrialise the process of recycling paint through increased automation which has proved successful and could lead to significant commercial opportunities as well as a better environmental outcome.Additionally, the Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund is supporting a RePaint project in Cheshire which is working across the local community to minimise the amount of paint going for disposal.The disposal of liquid waste, including liquid paint, to landfill is banned under the Landfill Directive (Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste). The ban is implemented in England through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (as amended) and is enforced by the Environment Agency through the environmental permits it issues to landfill operators. The creation of new markets for paint products was one of the recommendations from the British Coatings Federation’s “Paintcare” initiative which was launched last year. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is taking steps to encourage consumers to recycle/reuse household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now campaign. This includes a postcode locator to pinpoint local facilities and information on how to deal with paint.

Toner Cartridges

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK competition authorities have made an assessment of the UK market in printer cartridges; and if so, what conclusions were reached.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) carried out a market study in 2001 on consumer IT goods and services, including the printer cartridge market. It noted that consumers may find it difficult to identify which printer manufacturer had the cheapest price overall - this included the upfront price of the printer and the price of cartridges over the life of the machine. The OFT worked with the industry to introduce a labelling scheme which allowed consumers to identify how many pages they could expect to print with a cartridge. This allows consumers to consider both the purchase price and the running costs of the printer. The Competition and Markets Authority took over the competition functions of the OFT in 2014.

Department for Education

Faith Schools: Admissions

Baroness Meacher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define "vexatious" in relation to the objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by secularist campaigning groups over the last two years.

Lord Nash: On 25 January 2016, the Secretary of State announced changes to the school admissions code, in order to give parents more of a say in the school admissions process so they can be confident the system works for them.The Government proposes that only local parents and local authorities should be able to refer objections about a school’s admissions arrangements to the Schools Adjudicator. The Government wants to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, and that adjudications are not held up by the need to consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.The Department will conduct a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Meacher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that preventing groups and organisations from objecting to school admissions arrangements will have on overall levels of compliance with the School Admissions Code.

Lord Nash: The Government’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, and that adjudications are not delayed by the need to consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.The Department does not believe that preventing other organisations from submitting objections will have a detrimental impact. The Government will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Meacher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many breaches of the School Admissions Code there have been as a consequence of groups and organisations being able to object to schools' admission arrangements.

Lord Nash: The Schools Adjudicator reports annually to the Secretary of State on fair access, and this report includes information on the objections referred to the Schools Adjudicator and the outcomes of those objections. The Department is carefully considering the findings contained in the report and will take these into account, along with other relevant information, as part of the current review of the School Admissions Code.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support objections to a school’s admissions arrangements if those objections have been upheld.

Lord Nash: The School Admissions Code exists to ensure that places in all state funded schools are allocated in a fair and transparent manner. It is particularly important that parents feel confident that their concerns are listened to and acted upon.The Government has recently announced its intention to change its policy, to ensure that the adjudication process is focused on dealing with the concerns of those who have a direct interest in the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school. The adjudication process should not be delayed by the need to also consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.These changes will be subject to a full public consultation and parliamentary approval.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to comments by Professor Ted Cantle of the iCoCo Foundation regarding their proposals to prevent organisations from objecting to the admissions arrangements of schools.

Lord Nash: The Department’s proposed changes are designed to make sure that the Schools Adjudicator can concentrate on parental complaints. The Department wants to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to prioritise the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school.The changes are still subject to a full public consultation and the Department will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their recent proposal to prevent groups and organisations from objecting to the admissions arrangements of schools, what assessment they have made of whether the average parent has the expertise to identify and object to breaches of the School Admissions Code.

Lord Nash: Parents do not need a detailed knowledge of the School Admissions Code to be able to refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator. Many parents refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator.The Department’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school.The Department will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they plan to take as a result of the recent report of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers that 40 per cent of teachers in the UK have experienced violence from pupils in the past year.

Lord Nash: The government has already taken steps to empower teachers to tackle poor pupil behaviour in schools. We have extended teachers’ searching powers; allowed them to impose same-day detentions; and clarified their power to use reasonable force. In 2014, we updated our advice on pupil behaviour to make clear the range of sanctions it is permissible to use in order to manage poor behaviour. We also produced a range of case studies showing good practice and issued separate advice for schools to help teachers identify and support pupils whose behaviour may be related to an unmet mental health or special educational need.The Teacher Voice Omnibus survey, a nationally representative survey of teachers in England, found that 76 per cent of teachers say that behaviour in schools is ‘good or better’ compared to 70 per cent in 2008. However, we recognise that poor behaviour is still a problem in some schools. On 16 June 2015, the Secretary of State appointed the behaviour expert, Tom Bennett, to lead a behaviour review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children and to consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in the 21st century.To complement this review, Tom Bennett will lead a further review of behaviour management in schools with a particular focus on leadership, culture and systems used to tackle disruptive behaviour.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Partnerships

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage larger companies to form partnerships with creative entrepreneurs.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Government is supportive of the concept of larger organisations forming partnerships with creative entrepreneurs and is keen to encourage an environment in which such relationships can thrive. In addition, this is a matter for individual entrepreneurial endeavours in the cultural sector. In the last 4 years, Creative England has pioneered new partnership models with global brands opening up new networks and opportunities for creative talent across England. My ministerial colleague, Ed Vaizey recently launched Creative England’s latest call to action in seeking a new corporate partner to co-fund ‘Creative Nation’ – a new initiative aimed at finding the best creative and digital businesses to develop innovative solutions to address non-creative sector issues.

Digital Technology

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to be able to publish a UK-wide digital strategy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We plan to publish the Digital Strategy in early 2016. The Minister for the Digital Economy launched a public call for ideas on 29 December. We are now analysing these responses, and we continue to work closely with Whitehall departments on the Strategy.

Piers: Grants

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many English piers have received government grants in (1) 2013, (2) 2014 and (3) 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: There a number of grant programmes, funded by the taxpayer and the lottery, from which England’s 43 surviving piers can benefit. There is no central record of all government grants awarded to piers in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It is clear that grants from initiatives such as the Coastal Communities Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund as well as the Heritage Lottery Fund, have been invaluable in assisting with restoration works and creating new businesses and jobs. Such grants help to preserve our heritage and increase visitor numbers. At Hastings Pier, which will reopen to the public this spring, a £14 million restoration project was awarded funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Coastal Communities Fund and from DCLG, among other sources. The new visitor centre, arts centre and restaurant will provide a boost to tourism and local businesses.

Sports: Television

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of which national sporting events are listed for terrestrial broadcasting, and whether they plan to take steps to help expand that list to enable those who cannot afford or access cable or satellite television to view them.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Our recently published Sports Strategy made clear that the Government doesn't propose to reopen discussion on the Ofcom Code on Listed Events. It is for national governing bodies and other rights holders to strike the right balance between reaching a wide audience and generating revenue. However, we encourage as many national govering bodies and other rights holders as possible to sign up to the accessibility principle of the Sport and Recreation Alliance's Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Broadcasting of Major Sporting Events.

Public Service Broadcasting

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 23 July 2015 (HL1549), when they expect to publish proposals regarding the repeal of section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in the light of the consultation on the balance of payments between television platforms and public service broadcasters, and what is the reason for the delay in publication.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government intends to publish its response to the Balance of Payments consultation in the coming months.

Home Office

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Patina Rail, the owners of Eurostar, about human trafficking and the creation of a commuter route between St Pancras and Ashford that mirrors the so-called Lille loophole.

Lord Bates: The UK Government takes child trafficking extremely seriously. All Border Force officers at the Eurostar ports in the UK France and Belgium have received training in keeping children safe and all operational processes involving children comply with requirements as set out in the Children and Young Persons Act. Border Force and Eurostar have daily contact on operational matters. When passengers are identified by Border Force officers as potential victims of trafficking, immediate action is taken to safeguard the individual by following Home Office guidance on the treatment of the victims of trafficking. Border Force collects data on these cases in order to notify the Human Trafficking Centre. Contact is also made with Camden Social Services Safeguarding Team as soon as possible in order to establish safe care of the child. Eurostar has its own policy on unaccompanied children travelling on its services which can be found on its website.Border Force has not provided training to French border officials on UK child trafficking patterns. All cases of suspected trafficking detected by the French border officials at St Pancras are handed to the BTP to action. In France and Belgium any concerns Border Force officers have about vulnerable children attempting to travel to the UK would be referred to the French and Belgian frontier control authorities. The Home Office has not had any discussions with Patina Rail about a proposed new routing between St Pancras and Ashford.



Eurostar Policy. Link taken out of PQ response. 
(Word Document, 24.5 KB)

Private Rented Housing: Undocumented Migrants

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to better inform all landlords of the new rules that oblige them to check new tenants’ immigration status.

Lord Bates: The Home Office has undertaken a proactive engagement and communications campaign to raise awareness about the roll out of the scheme. This has involved private rented sector engagement, media engagement and the distribution of communications materials across a range of Government and partner channels. We are continuing direct engagement with the private rented sector through a consultative panel, chaired by the Immigration Minister and Lord Best, which includes housing experts and homelessness charities. The Home Office has also undertaken a programme of engagement including training events for all local authorities and presentations at sector conferences.The panel has helped to shape the communications strategy for the scheme and has collaborated on communications tactics and methods. The Home Office has collaborated with the panel to produce various communications materials which have been shared with the sector and published on GOV.UK. Since October 2015, there has been an increase in web traffic to Right to Rent guidance on GOV.UK with over 80,000 unique views of key pages.The Home Office will continue proactive engagement and communications activity in the months ahead to ensure landlords and tenants are aware of the materials and guidance available.

Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will meet the British Red Cross to discuss improvements in the existing processes for the reunion of refugees' families.

Lord Bates: Home Office officials have already met with the British Red Cross to discuss improvements in the existing process for family reunion. We will continue to consult with them to ensure that migrants better understand the process and what is required of them.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many potential female genital mutilation victims were interviewed in UK airports at the beginning and end of the school summer holidays in 2015.

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the outcome of potential female genital mutilation victims being interviewed in UK airports at the beginning and end of the school summer holidays in 2015.

Lord Bates: Border Force continues to prioritise safeguarding activity, with trained safeguarding teams in place across Border Force. These teams are specifically trained to identify potential victims of FGM, and work collaboratively with the police and social services to carry out targeted operations on high risk flights. Such activity is highly sensitive, and to preserve the integrity of such operations, the Home Office does not comment on individual cases or investigations, or their outcomes. Border Force is aware of specific concerns raised by Baroness Tonge last summer and will write to her addressing those concerns.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support the National Wildlife Crime Unit with further funding and through changes in legislation.

Lord Bates: The Government fully understands the importance of tackling wildlife crime and the important contribution that the National Wildlife Crime Unit makes to this, both here in the UK and internationally.That is reflected in the fact that the Government is providing over £270,000 worth of specific funding to support the work of the Unit in 2015/16. As far as funding beyond March 2016 is concerned, a decision will be made in due course. The Government has no plans to make changes in legislation to support the Unit.

Undocumented Workers: Northern Ireland

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many business establishments in Northern Ireland have been fined for employing illegal national workers in each of the last four years.

Lord Bates: The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures are based on the number of civil penalties issued to individual employers during each of the last four complete financial years and the current financial year to 31st January 2016. This includes public and private limited companies, sole traders, partnerships and franchises.Financial yearCivil penalties issued2011-12142012-13192013-14422014-15852015-16 (to 31st January 2016)57

France: Undocumented Migrants

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with the government of France about refugees and migrants near Calais and Dunkirk; whether those discussions include the provision of better information for camp dwellers and better coordination of volunteers and relief supplies; and when they will report to Parliament about those discussions.

Lord Bates: The Government is in regular discussion with French counterparts at ministerial and official level on all aspects of the migrant situation in Northern France.In line with the UK-France Joint Declaration signed in August 2015, both countries carry out joint communications visits to the camps in Calais and Dunkirk to inform migrants about their rights and responsibilities.The coordination of volunteers, charities and NGOs in France is the responsibility of the French authorities. However, the UK has issued advice for UK residents who want to help or donate to support migrants in Calais. The advice, offered directly on the FCO travel advice website (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france) is to give to registered and experienced humanitarian charities who are best placed to distribute donations in an organised manner.Ministers regularly update Parliament on all aspects of the situation in Northern France.

Migration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have initiated any discussions in the past decade on global migration issues.

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the demands of increasing world-wide migration.

Lord Bates: The Government undertakes extensive engagement on global migration issues with international partners through multilateral and bilateral discussions. The frequency of engagement has increased since the migration crisis in summer 2015 and focuses on the root causes of the crisis and its consequences. UK participation in the Valletta Summit and the Khartoum Process are key parts of this engagement.In order to tackle the unprecedented levels of illegal migration to the EU, we are prioritising interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit to reduce the need for migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. Action is being taking through regional initiatives, including Regional Development and Protection Programmes and overseas aid, including £1.12 billion of support to Syria. We are supporting work to strengthen the EU’s external border and joint action on human trafficking to crack down on those who profit from this vile trade. The Government recently announced that it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions. We have asked the UNHCR to make an assessment of the numbers and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions and advise on when it is in the best interests of the child to be resettled in the UK and how that process should be managed. This new initiative builds on the Government’s existing commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees during this Parliament. More than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians refugees - around half of them children - have already been resettled through the scheme.

Immigration Rules: EEA Nationals

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an EEA national residing in the UK who wished to bring a non-EU spouse into the country would, under the draft Decision by the European Council published on 2 February, have to meet the requirements for salary, and the spouse the conditions for language, as are required of a British citizen and set out under part 8 of the UK Immigration Rules.

Lord Bates: This is still a matter for negotiation. The European Commission has proposed bringing forward a legislative proposal to reverse the Metock judgment and prevent non-EU nationals from acquiring free movement rights simply by marrying an EU national. Instead, they will be subject to the domestic immigration controls of the first Member State they enter. In the UK, this means that they will need to meet language and income requirements.

HM Treasury

Companies: Taxation

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies have made special arrangements with HMRC to pay tax owed, and how the arrangements are assessed as reasonable and fair to the taxpayer in general as well as to the company concerned.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HMRC does not enter into special arrangements with companies.

Department of Health

Zika Virus: Pregnant Women

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health has begun to carry out a survey of pregnant women where either partner has been to Brazil or other neighbouring countries where there has been a significant outbreak of the Zika virus.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Public Health England (PHE) is actively exploring the feasibility of working with other parts of the United Kingdom to undertake the systematic collection of data on pregnant women presenting to National Health Service maternity services where they have travelled to a country with active Zika virus transmission during pregnancy or within four weeks of conception. The aim of such work would be to measure the impact of Zika virus on obstetric services and on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes for women. PHE has been working with appropriate Royal Colleges to provide updated guidance for healthcare professionals, including midwives, on the management of any symptomatic patients (particularly pregnant women) returning from affected countries. A copy of this guidance is attached.



Guidance for healthcare professionals Zika
(PDF Document, 241.83 KB)

Human Embryo Experiments

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what specific recommendations the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made in order to resolve any conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients, in particular regarding (1) a demand for sufficient numbers of human embryos at the single-celled zygote stage in order successfully to perform genome editing by means of CRISPR-Cas9, and (2) the usual practice of transferring embryos to the uterus after assessing their potential to develop further after either two to three days or five to six days.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it requires, through its Code of Practice, that embryo donors will be recruited in a manner compliant with standard licence conditions. These conditions prevent conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients.

Human Embryo Experiments

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what evidence the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has received that a major cause of miscarriage is the failure of embryos to develop to the blastocyst stage; what records they hold regarding miscarriages occurring after human embryos that were known to be unable to develop further in vitro had been deliberately transferred to the uterus of a patient; and what sanctions are imposed on clinics in which such implantations take place.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has not received any such evidence. With regards the role of the HFEA in granting a research licence, its role is to ensure that any project fulfils one of the purposed set out below: - Increasing knowledge about serious disease or other serious conditions.- Developing treatments for serious diseases or other serious medical conditions.- Increasing knowledge about the causes of congenital diseases.- Promoting the advances in the treatment of infertility.- Increasing knowledge about the causes of miscarriages.- Developing more efficient techniques of contraception.- Developing methods for detecting gene, chromosome or mitochondrion abnormalities in embryos before implantation.- Increasing knowledge about the development of embryos.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage GPs to undertake out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department and NHS England are committed to addressing the issue of increasing medical indemnity costs for general practitioners (GPs), including those working out of hours. Increasing costs of indemnity cover associated with out of hours work may discourage GPs from undertaking out-of-hours shifts in primary care. The Department was represented at a roundtable event held by NHS England on 17 November 2015 to develop a shared understanding of how to address rising medical indemnity costs. A range of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Medical Defence Organisations, also attended. On 9 December 2015, NHS England announced a winter indemnity scheme to offset the additional indemnity premium for GPs who wish to work additional sessions for their out-of-hours providers. Discussions are ongoing between the Department and NHS England on a long-term solution.

NHS: Per Capita Costs

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the figures, in real terms, for spending per head of the population on the NHS in 1997–98 and 2014–15.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Latest available data for spending per head of population on the National Health Service in England is 2013-14. Spend per head of population on the NHS in England in real terms for 1997-98 and 2013-14 is shown in the following table. England NHS health spend per headYearSpend per head in 2013-14 prices £Source1997-981,026Office for National Statistics Mid 1997 population projection and net NHS spend 1997-982013-141,994HM Treasury Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2015